A Day Trip in Tanay : The Tanay Church

After spending our time marveling the beauty of the windmills in Pililla (Check : A Day Trip in Rizal : Pililla Wind Farm), we went to our first real destination in Tanay ~ The Saint Ildefonsus Of Toledo Parish or more commonly known as the Tanay Church! I really appreciate the fact that our tour coordinator remained faithful to our planned itinerary. It started to rain and we were several minutes late to our original schedule and I thought that they will skip some the places we were supposed to visit yet they decided to stick to our itinerary.The Tanay Church was actually declared by the NCCA (National Commission of Culture and Arts as a National Cultural treasure church. If we are going to trace its history, the first parish was actually established in 1606. The church was put under the patronage of Saint Ildefonsus of Toledo, Spain and thus it was given the same name.Much like any old churches in the Philippines, The Tanay church also has many story to tell and it has witnessed many events in history. It also went through different challenges and was destroyed many times by different reasons. In 1620 for an instance, the church which was first made in poor materials like wood and cogon grass was established in San Antonio but was burned down by the Aetas and the image of La Purisima Conception was mysteriously saved. In 1680, a stone church was completed but was utterly destroyed due to natural calamity.The present church was completed in 1783. The moment we arrived in the said place, the first thing that you will notice is the wonderful wooden sculpture located just in front of the church along side with the giant acacia tree.There were actually two giant and century old Acacia tree in the churchyard of San Ildefonso de Toledo. The one managed to survive the calamities but the other one failed to withstand the challenge of nature. In order to preserve the memory brought by this tree, the parish in coordination with other concerned people of Tanay decided to transform the tree into a masterpiece that even future generations of Tanayans can embrace.The 16ft Acacia sclupture depicts the image of the Virgin Mary appearing in front of Saint Ildefonsus. The masterpiece is entitled as “Pamana sa Tanay, Hane!”. It was designed by Yvette Beatrice Y Co and and sculpted by Roel Lazarro and Frank B Gajo and the rest of the sculptors from both Kalayaan and Paete Laguna.
Look! I also spotted Baybayin scriptures in this sculpture. It says Akasya Ng Tanay (Acacia [Tree] of Tanay). This actually reminds me of another Acacia sculpture in General Trias Cavite which is also located in front of the church. The sculpture depicts their patron saint too ~ St Francis of Assisi.The 400th year anniversary marker placed outside the church. The naveThe main retablo or altarI was really stunned by the retablos and the sanctuaries and overwhelmed by the amount of images on display. The main retabloThe other retablo with the image of Saint Joseph on the centerThe retablo on the other side with the image of La Purisima Conception on the center. You’ll also find a retablo dedicated to the Nuestra Señora de las Angustias (Our Lady of Anguish )Another altar in honor of the Baptism of Jesus Christ  A intricately decorated pulpit on the side.

After attending the mass, we headed to our next destination, the famous Parola of Tanay

Here are the links to the rest of my Tanay escapade: Feel free to visit the links below
► Pililla Wind Farm
► Tanay Church (San Ildefonso de Toledo Parish)
► The Parola of Tanay
► Regina RICA
► The Calinawan Cave
► The Daranak Falls
► The Batlag Falls